Refreshing news…finally. The Sony Ericsson Xperia works better now. After installing the Android 2.1 update, my Xperia picked up some speed, and feels more complete. I had some trouble spots during my upgrade, but eventually reached a happy conclusion. Things are working great now. So I’m sure you are wondering….what changed? What’s new?
First, the obvious: The home screen grew by two screens on each side to give you a total of 5 home screens. Respectable. Each screen now has an extra row of four icons…Makes sense…the screen was big enough: so 5 home screens, 20 apps per screen. The dedicated App tray is no longer a pull out tray….it is a tap to open button. And the unlock is a normal slide rather than an arc across the screen…
Next, the less than obvious: Google can now handle more than one mail account. Music apps actually work! (i.e. when you press the piano key, or the drums, or the guitar, the sound plays right away without a little nagging delay…’bout time!…). The screen seems much sharper to my eyes…might be a trick of the brain, but the fonts seem slightly larger and definitely crisper. You can install live wallpapers and you have access to many, many more apps under 2.1 compared to the limited number of 1.6 apps. Others have reported increased battery life, but I won’t know for sure until a couple more days have passed. The video mode has continuous focus and HD capability. The browser grabs a screen shot to save in your Bookmarks collection…so you get a panel of screen shots making it easy to find your bookmarked pages!
But the bad news: No Flash capability and no multitouch. Mediascape is supposed to be better but is still far short of the Android Gallery App. And for the Japanese user who inputs English text, the Sony POBox Touch or the Standard Keyboard still fall way short of the mark for ease of use. And what’s up with the two rows of all caps NTT DOCOMO | NTT DOCOMO?! Hello!? And where did my silent mode button go?
O.K. delving a little deeper.
I began my upgrade Xperience on 10 Nov at 9 pm. The release was scheduled for 6 pm so I had no trouble getting the Sony Ericsson Update Service to recognize that I had an older version of the software. I opted for the upgrade and keep my configuration rather than the upgrade and reset to factory configuration. Naturally, I used the backup utility first to save all of my settings (all? well not quite all…) Then I upgraded without trouble and in 19 minutes my phone stated it was 2.1 and ready to go. I went from Android 1.6, Baseband version 1.0.24, Kernel 2.6.29 -relsemc, Build R1EA025 ….to…. Android 2.1, Baseband version 2.0.47, Kernel 2.6.29 SEMCVSer@SEMCHost, Build 2.0.B.0.138. But all those numbers are not important…what I thought was important was that little number under Android version….I was now Android 2.1… I powered on and off a few times after the full install to make sure the system was ready to roll….
But not so fast…I decided to run some benchmark tests to compare it to my original 1.6 version. I loaded up quadrant and compared 5 test runs with my previous 5 test runs. When I was running Android 1.6, I scored 437 or 436 fairly consistently. Now, with this brand new build of Android, my test scores vaired from a low of 421 to a high of 492…hmmm…something fishy….the variability didn’t make sense….And some of my apps would not run properly (Smart Keyboard would not power up even though it was selected)….I could not download new apps, they all failed. I could receive calls, but I could not locate anyone in my address book. Dialer would lock up if I tried to look for a contact. And a number of other unrelated failures. I went into denial. No one else commented about trouble during the upgrade, so I tried to pretend that my problems would go away if I just ignored them. So after a several hour bike ride, I came back to the realization that the upgrade had not gone well for Dylan. There was no way around it…I would have to do a full reinstall to initial factory settings. Grrrr…
So I grit my teeth and got to work. A full reinstall takes just a few minutes more than the original install, but it gave me everything I needed for a clean finish. Everything was working as it should. And with a clean install, I ran quadrant a few times and came up with scores of 529 – 531. Much more consistent and much better than the system under 1.6. So the feeling of speed is not just in my head. (BTW, graphics in the quadrant standard benchmark test seemed to run smoother and brighter too…) I had no trouble downloading and reinstalling my apps. And the App Market had lots of new apps that I was not able to view when I was running 1.6.
The Camera runs more smoothly. Initial startup is still slow, but the shutter appears to release faster after taking less time to focus. You still have to wait for the previous photo to be saved before you can take a new photo, but that processing seems to have been speeded up considerably. The video mode now includes HD video and continuous focusing. The continuous focusing is nice and fairly smooth. It makes the video operation seamless. Still have to turn on the light each time you start up the camera. It does not save this mode for you. Nor does it “guess” when you need it…bummer.
Seems the screen goes to sleep a lot faster…I wonder if that is how they extend the battery life?
There are Backed-Up Apps, and then there are all the other Apps.
Did I mention I backed up everything? Well it turns out that the backup tool DOES NOT backup UNPAID apps. All the paid apps are fine…at least those that are still listed. But unpaid apps…the hundreds of unpaid apps that I downloaded from the market and use so often? Those apps were not stored in the Downloads folder. I had to try to remember the proper titles and go back out and find them. I still think I’m missing quite a few. I actually took the time to record every single downloaded app in my notes, but still….why wouldn’t the backup software include these free apps…is there a hidden message from Google?
SE is Still Disappointing in many ways.
Mediascape is still slow to load, slow to enlarge selected photos and slow to move to the next photo. If you’ve ever done this on an iPhone, you wonder how the folks at SE could not get this one right. As a matter of fact, to cover their tracks, the programmers at SE went to the extra trouble to hide, bury, and stash away the perfectly good Android Gallery App. I didn’t even know there was a Gallery App on my phone. And it works great! Want to see how good? Go to the Add a Widget, Scroll down to Photo Frame (??????) and have a look around. This is the Android Gallery App. Nice huh? Smooth scrolling images, quick to load, easy to see your photos…(only too bad you can’t organize the folders from this app). Anyway, if you try to add this app to your desktop, or try to look for it in your app tray you will notice it is “missing”. Hmmm….I checked under the system management tool for Managing Apps and it is sitting right there. Yet it is not anywhere to be found from the launcher….Thanks SE…But not to worry fans, you can get an app that will bring this right to your desktop…you just need an App Installer, and the XDA Developers APK that brings the Gallery App out of hiding…Check out the story here: www.xperia10.net/2010/11/07/tired-of-mediascape-get-access-to-the-3d-gallery/
Adobe Flash Viewer on 2.1? I know, I know, some phones you can download a workaround for Flash and run Flash on 2.1. I tried, I installed, but none of the several Flash Sites could I see…none. Hello SE? I’ll even spare you the trouble of looking for the link and trying. It doesn’t seem to work. (But if you find a way, let me know and I’ll be glad to edit this portion!)
New row of Quick buttons….Nice color, increased to 5 buttons…but I lost my silent mode button, picked up a sync button and a screen lighting button…hmm. The power button kit looks nice and adds a battery status, airplane mode switch, silent mode, GPS, and data roaming quick setting switch. But there are no settings to edit either of these two choices…what happened to the people’s choice?
NO GOOGLE EARTH…come on…I thought this was one of the big improvements in moving to 2.1. Tried and tired again. No luck. No Google Earth. (But the new Google Maps has an AWESOME Navi feature….rivals the awesome Navi in my car. Plus, the navi in my car only gets an update once every two years. The Google Navi seems updated a lot faster! Now I just need a place to mount my Xperia on my car and also on my biycle! Ideas anyone? Anyone have a recommended upper arm/ shoulder case for jogging with the Xperia?
Summary
All in all, the update made my phone run faster. The update process ran smooth….except for the part where it did not run smooth…but a repeat of the install made it behave and work well. Now, post 2.1 install, there are more apps to chose from…A good thing. (I still could not find Google Earth though….). Angry Birds runs smoother and with fewer bugs under 2.1. Of the basic apps, the independent, non-Google and non-SE apps still provide excellent value. In particular, I name a few of my favorites (in no particular order). These are the ones that I cannot run my phone without. They are an integral part of each Android day:
Smart Keyboard – If you type in English and Japanese on your Xperia (or other languages) this one keyboard makes typing a breeze. The autocorrect function just works…the Standard SE Keyboard, makes you work….Smart Keyboard even has a calibration option and a tracker to let you know where your fingers are actually touching the screen. It just works better all around.
Android Gallery – So much better than Mediascape. I don’t know why I never found it before…oh that’s right, SE hid it from me.
K-9 Mail – It works. And it keeps getting better. It works with so many account types. It has so many ways to make it fit your style. It works better than the Google G-Mail…And I like G-mail…but not the app. K-9 Mail makes e-mailing from Android easy again.
Jorte – Wow. It syncs with Google Calendar, but it interfaces with me so much better. Now I just have to figure out how to link it to my Outlook Calendar….
I promise, my next post will not be about this phone. Really.
Just as I finished typing this post, I got an e-mail from DoCoMo…they were letting me know that version 2.1 was released. I wonder if there were still Xperia users out there in Japan not aware that this was on the horizon…..Not impossible, but seems unlikely….
Time to move on and return to life before this “invented” excitement found its way into my daily activities. I still miss having Flash and Google Earth. HELLO SE?! And can I get a better, more response (shutter lag time, light sensitivity, etc….)
Cheers, Dylan
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